In a sobering decision, the Illinois Supreme Court recently upheld the automatic adult prosecution of a 15-year-old who was living in a state residential home due to long-standing neglect by his family.
Unlike its earlier decisions upholding transfer to adult court, the court this time unanimously expressed its concern with the lack of individual review in automatic transfer. The court strongly urged the Illinois General Assembly to review the statute "based on current scientific and sociological evidence indicating a need for the exercise of judicial discretion in determining the appropriate setting for the proceedings in these juvenile cases."
One justice dissented. In a remarkably thorough and convincing argument, Justice Mary Jane Theis noted that youth is different from adulthood, and should be protected:
"Our state, home of the country’s first juvenile court and once a leader in juvenile justice reform, should not be a place where we boast of locking up juveniles and throwing away the key. Illinois should be a place where youth matters, and we work to tailor punishment to fit the offense and the offender, as required by our federal and state constitutions. For juveniles, that starts with abolishing automatic transfers."
Trying children in adult court is a uniquely U.S. invention, as it is universally prohibited under international law. Automatically sending cases to adult court is even more unusual — Illinois is one of a dwindling number of states (14) that fail to impose any judicial review on the transfer decision.
[For more of this story written by Elizabeth Clarke, go to http://jjie.org/op-ed-automati...our-children/107814/]
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